Reimbursement

Good evening, @SusCSRA. You've come to the right place to help reimburse yourself for any expenses you don't draw directly out of the business bank account. 

While it is generally advised to keep business and personal funds separate, we understand that there are instances where they may overlap. You don't necessarily need to set yourself up as an employee. If you need to reimburse yourself for a personal expense, you can record it in QuickBooks Desktop as either a check or an expense. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

Step 1: Record the business expense you paid for with personal funds.

1. Go to the Company menu and select Make General Journal Entries.
2. On the first line, pick the expense account for the purchase.
3. Enter the purchase amount in the Debits column.
4. On the second line, choose Partner's equity or Owner's equity.
5. Input the same purchase amount in the Credits column.
6. Click on Save and close.

Step 2: Decide how you want to reimburse the money. You have two options:

Option 1: Record the reimbursement as a check

1. Open the Banking menu.
2. Click on Write Checks.
3. Select a bank account to use to reimburse the personal funds.
4. In the Category column, choose Partner's equity or Owner's equity.
5. Enter the amount to reimburse.
6. Hit Save and close or Save and new.

Option 2: Record the reimbursement as an expense

1. Click Banking at the top menu bar and choose to Write Checks.
    
2. Select the appropriate BANK ACCOUNT.
3. Choose a Payee in the PAY TO THE ORDER OF field.
4. Filter the DATE and CHECK NO.
5. Go to the Expense tab, select the Expense Account, and enter the amount.
6. Hit Save and close.
   

If you're all good, feel free to explore this extra guide on how to manage checks: Modify, void, delete, or print checks in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you require any additional assistance, please leave a message below. We'll be happy to assist you at any time. Keep safe.

Mich, many thanks for such a quick reply. Now if I and board members are making monthly contributions (can't bring in donations if you don't give too), would you have different thoughts on how each of us would be setup?

Hello again, SusCSRA! We greatly appreciate your continued engagement in the Community space. It's our pleasure to assist you in effectively managing your business contributions in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

Thank you for choosing QuickBooks as your trusted tool for handling your business operations. We prioritize your ability to utilize the program efficiently and effectively. We would be delighted to guide you through the process of recording monthly contributions for you and your board members.

Begin by setting up a vendor for each person and creating an owner or partner equity account. These accounts allow you to track the investments and withdrawals made by individuals in the business. Please follow the steps below:

1. Go to the List menu and select Chart of Accounts.
2. In the Account dropdown, choose New.
3. Select the Equity account type and click Continue.
4. Enter either Owner's Equity or Partner's Equity in the Account Name field.
5. Tap Save and Close.

Please note that before setting up accounts for multiple partners or owners, you need to create a single equity account. Afterward, you can create separate equity accounts for each partner. When filling out the information for the equity account, simply select "Is sub-account" and enter the parent account.

Once you have completed these steps, you can now record monthly contributions. If you have connected your bank account, there is no need to record the investment separately. Simply categorize the transactions associated with your deposits.

However, if you do not automatically import your bank transactions, you can record a deposit into your equity account instead. Here's how:

1. Go to the Banking menu, then click Make Deposits.
2. In the Deposit to field, select the bank account you're depositing the money.
3. Select the board member in the Received From field.
4. In the From account field, choose the equity account.
5. Enter an amount.
6. Hit Save & Close.

Moreover, you can keep these resources that you can use in handling bank transactions moving forward:

• Set up accounts for Bank Feeds
• Download Bank Feed transactions
• Add and match Bank Feed transactions
• Deactivate Bank Feeds for an account

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us by clicking the Reply button below or posting a new query. We will be eagerly waiting to assist you. We are dedicated to supporting your business venture and wish you a highly productive day, SusCSRA!

Thanks both of you for your help!

Last question (I think) on this topic: contributions in general. As a non-profit taking in gifts from the general public, do these contributors get added as customers? I'll also receive 'gifts' from other non-profits. Do each of these get created as customers too?

Thanks!

Chris

@SusCSRA 

Almost all of the information provided by @SirielJeaB  and @Mich_S is incorrect.  It is so bad that it is obvious no one with an accounting background at Intuit reviews their answers.  Because non-profits are under more scrutiny, you should contact your own CPA/tax accountant on this to avoid putting your exempt status at risk.